Siren
by SilentTaboo
Summary: Good and Evil aren't always defined, and Director Fury had always been able to sleep at night no matter what category his decisions fell under as long as the outcome was for the "greater good". Well, all except for one involving a strange girl, a strange ability, and a dark cell, but maybe a ragtag team of "superheroes" can fix what he never could.
1. Prologue

**Siren **

By, SilentTaboo

Summary: Good and Evil aren't always defined, and Director Fury had always been able to sleep at night no matter what category his decisions fell under as long as the outcome was for the "greater good". Well, all except for one involving a strange girl, a strange ability, and a dark cell, but maybe a ragtag team of "superheroes" can fix what he never could.

Disclaimer (for entire story): I don't own the Avengers only Melody.

Prologue:

Fury sighed through his nose, back turned away from Phil Coulson trying to think of some way around it. Phil had approached him with a plan that could potentially save the world, and fix his one mistake as a leader. He was seeing too many holes in this plan, and there was too much at stake for him to outright agree to it.

But too many desperate emotions he usually kept in check were running rampant in his head not allowing him to say no either.

"With all due respect, sir, and the fate of the world aside, this may be our one chance to free her." He could tell Phil wanted to say more. Things about Melody's health, both mental and physical, caused by her confinement were most likely, and Fury was oddly grateful for the restraint.

"I have no other option do I? Our back up plan was compromised even before it got off the planning table, and this guy has the potential and now the means to destroy the world. If more time was available, I wouldn't even consider this." Fury paused for a moment, knowing that was quite possibly a lie. Lying was a familiar feeling, and he needed a bit of familiar at the moment.

"Of course, sir." Nick didn't have to turn around to see the growing grin and the hope spread across Phil's face. He could hear it in his voice.

"But," He sighed, "Time is not something we have." Turning to Phil he continued. "And you're right. I don't believe we will have a proposal for her release the council would actually agree to. You have my permission to start up the Avengers Initiative, but keep Melody under a need-to-know classification. I have a feeling some in this ragtag team might not agree to join us if they know much about her. I'll convince the Council. We'll assemble the Avengers, and then we'll introduce Melody Carmen."

The Cheshire cat grin on Agent Coulson's face couldn't have gotten any bigger. Frankly, that amount of happy was freaking Director Fury out a little.

"Oh, and Agent Coulson, I will handle recruiting Captain America. We need someone that isn't going to fan girl all over him." There. Phil's diminishing grin was a little easier for Nick to handle now.

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	2. A Light in the Dark

Siren

By, SilentTaboo

Chapter 1: A Light in the Dark

Melody lay curled in a ball on top of the army cot the Council had allowed her, staring unblinkingly through the dark where she knew the door was.

Why hadn't anyone come yet?

In the three years she had been there someone had come almost every day to check on her. Usually it was Phil, sometimes it was Clint, and on a rare (and often awkward) occasion Fury would come. Usually they would stay about half an hour and do everything from evaluating her health to telling her about the world outside.

That was one thing Melody really missed from her time outside of the SHIELD organization.

Talking.

The shock collar the Council had forced on her prohibited such things now. Sure they had forced her to learn sign language, and she got by, but she was starting to forget what she sounded like. Even what she remembered was probably changed by now. She was thirteen after all, and honestly three years was long enough for anyone's voice to change.

On occasion she would get desperate, and attempt to talk in spite of the collar. She would receive a shock before she finished forming a word, and all she could say for that was she knew what her scream sounded like: panicked, frightened, often mixed with the sounds of Phil trying to calm her before the prolonged voltage from prolonged use of her vocal box made her pass out.

But her voice… she knew nothing accurate about it anymore.

Well, besides the fact that people (excluding the three that would visit her) feared it. That her voice was the reason she was sitting in a metal cell in the dark, because her voice made her a monster in their eyes.

Before her parents were killed by order of the Council, her parents told Melody that her voice made her special. Her ability to able to control elements with words on purpose or on accident meant that she was meant for great things. Wonderful things.

They neglected to tell her about the cage, and the dark, and the fear that the council would decide keeping Melody alive was too risky and she would go the way of her parents.

Which is why she was staring at the door, six meals had come, been eaten, and taken away, and no one had come in. No Phil. No Clint. Not even Fury.

The only logical possibility her mind could form was that they no longer needed to visit the girl behind the iron door. She wasn't going to be there much longer. One less thing to worry about right?

Melody's eyes started to water as she shook violently. At this point she wasn't entire sure if her reaction was more from the prospect of dying or-

The room echoed with the familiar sound of a large lock creaking out of place. Instinctively her arms pushed her up into a half seated position as adrenaline was pushed through her body.

As the door was pushed open the pain from the light forced tears to roll down her pale white face as her eyes adjusted. In the door way was Phil. This caused more tears and a concerned look on Phil's face as he closed to door back and pulled out a flashlight.

"Melody what's wrong?" He asked sitting down on the cot putting one hand on her thin arm before pulling her to him.

It wasn't often Phil came in to see Melody shaking and paler than usual, but it never meant anything good. The last time this happened a new agent in the Siren Division had brought Melody her food and tormented her believing the rumors that went around about the witch in the iron cell that had demolished towns with one word and laughed as the residence screamed.

Fury turned a blind eye when Phil sicked Barton on him and said agent disappeared into thin air.

Melody's shaking hands sloppily signed out 'Six meals went by and no one came. I thought the Council was going to kill me.'

Phil immediately felt guilty. In his excitement they had forgotten to make sure Melody's schedule was kept up. That schedule was one of the few comforts the Council had allowed her, and he had for two days unintentionally taken that away from her.

"I'm so sorry Melody. There's been so much going on in the last few days that I guess I forgot to make sure someone checked up on you. I've got so much to tell you, and if you accept I have some fantastic news for you." Melody leaned away from him looking up expectantly. "You remember how Agent Barton went on that mission to find Captain America two years back?" Melody nodded. "He found something else while he was searching the ocean. It's called the Tesseract. Essentially it's a self sustaining energy source that can potentially destroy the world if in the wrong hands."

Melody's eyes grew wide. This sounded way above classified. Was Phil's brain fried? Last she checked anything about his work that didn't have to do with her and a few that did couldn't be told to her unless she needed to know. What would she need to know in an iron cell?

Despite her mildly frightened look Phil continued. "A few days ago, it started acting funny. It was during that time when I had one of the people that bring you your meals talk to you remember?" Melody nodded looking mildly confused. What did 'acting funny' mean when talking about a potentially deadly energy source? "It opened a portal allowing a very dangerous man through. He killed quite a few people and took over one of the scientist's minds as well as…" Phil sighed he didn't know how she would take this. "… as well as Agent Barton." She gasped, quickly regretting it.

Pain pulsed blue through her. She screamed through her teeth trying to quiet herself as fast as possible. The more noise she made the worse it would be. She felt Phil's jacket surround her shoulders before Phil pulled her into a tight embrace making sure to not touch her skin and in turn be electrocuted as well.

She braced herself against Phil; her entire body shaking and tense. Phil hated this almost as much as she did. He hated seeing the girl he'd been caring for be put through pain for making any sound and in turn forced to scream until she couldn't anymore.

He would be glad when the retched thing was off her, and thought of ways to brutally destroy the thing as he helped her ride through the shocks.

It was a minute or two before her focus was broken enough from her attempt to stay quite to notice Phil had been whispering comforts and promises to her as she screamed. "Shh, calm down. I promise it will be off soon. I'm going to get you out of here, and you'll never have to wear one of those _things_ again. Calm down, calm down."

Melody lay limp in his arms panting and shaking sore from her most recent electrocution. She raised her hands, her shaking making her signing almost unintelligible in the little light the flashlight provided as it rested on the cot. 'What do you mean… it will be off soon? The Council told me directly it would… never come off. They wouldn't… allow it.'

"I was getting to that." Phil said softly still trying to sooth the shaking out of her. "I know you don't know much about the world outside, just the things that I have told you, but the world is filled with people kind of like you. They have powers as well, of different kinds, and some the Council tried to capture as well, but their differences were noticed or created after they became old enough to fight back. Director Fury and I have been working on enlisting a lot of these people into a team called the Avengers so that the world can be protected by people with better means to protect it when SHIELD can't.

"Director Fury convinced the Council that you should be on that team. They have signed over full, well they called it ownership, of you to Director Fury. As long as you agree to be on the team, Director Fury will enroll you as a temporary agent until this crisis is over. After that you can choose what you want to do with your life. If you find you want to remain an agent you will be allowed to do that. If you decide you want to live with someone and be adopted into a family you will be allowed to do that too. If you agree, I can actually bring you out of here right now."

Melody looked at him with disbelief at first, and then a grin spread across her face, before settling into slight worry. 'Will I see you again if I agree?'

Phil smiled at that. "Melody, I have been your care taker for three years. Do you really think I would let you getting released stop me from seeing you?"

Melody smiled again before signing, 'How could I refuse?'

Phil smile widened as he stood up helping Melody to her feet, still shaking from minutes before. "Let's go get that infernal thing off then shall we? Unfortunately, Fury's the only one that knows how to take it off, and he's on the helicarrier at the moment. We'll be going there immediately. The team should be there by the time we get there anyway."

Phil opened up the door holding Melody around the shoulders to steady her, before walking her into the light for the first time in three years.

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	3. Off

Siren

By, SilentTaboo

Author's Note: I'm so sorry I dropped off the face of the planet. I've had several complications writing this chapter. Hopefully it's worth the wait.

Chapter 2:

Nick Fury stood at one end of the helicarrier's roof watching the two of the Avengers from afar. He really was curious as to how they would react when Melody arrived. Doctor Banner seemed pretty skittish just from being over open water. He doubted his anxiety would get any better when he saw what had been done to Melody.

Agent Hills came up beside him standing at attention waiting to be addressed. "Yes, Agent Hills?"

"Doctor Banner has arrived and I've checked with the Captain. We are clear for takeoff when you are ready."

"Hold off on that. Agent Coulson is bringing in one more." Agent Hills looked confused.

"But Sir, I thought all on the project were here and except Stark who is coming in this evening." Fury nodded.

"All except one. Have you ever heard about Project Siren?"

Hills shook her head. "Only rumors, and I tend not to put much store in those."

"Well Agent, the Siren will be joining us here in a moment." Weather that shocked the Agent or not, she didn't let show. "Also have Agent Romanoff escort Doctor Banner and Captain America below deck. Best the Hulk not see her arrive."

She gave a swift nod before leaving while talking into her commlink. Two minutes later Fury watched as Agent Romanoff escorted Banner and Rogers below deck as a helicopter began to land.

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Phil looked over at Melody who was curled up against his side, engulfed by his suit jacket, and sleeping relatively peacefully. He didn't really want to wake her up, but he could see the helicarrier through the window to his right.

He touched her shoulder gently trying not to startle her. He'd like to avoid another electrocution fest if at all possible. "Melody, wake up. We're almost there."

Her eyes opened sleepily and she nodded not moving away from Phil. She'd stuck like glue to him since they left, fearful green eyes staring at any agent that had gotten too close. Honestly, Phil wasn't all that surprised. She had seen maybe six people in the last three years. Only three of those people she had actually been sure weren't going to hurt her.

The helicopter landed and an agent walked up to open the door from the outside. Phil exited first, quickly followed by Melody who blinked in the sunlight. Her pale skin almost glowed and her dark hair tangled in the wind. She looked truly small clinging to the edges of his jacket with standard draw string shorts acting more like capri pants and bare feet silent across the pavement.

"Hello, Director." Phil said walking up to him. Melody, two steps behind, gave a small wave. "Have the others arrived?"

"All but Stark. He claims to be coming later this evening. I trust you had no issues with the release."

"No, sir."

Fury nodded. "Good. Follow me. Once we're inside and we're out of the water, I'll take the collar off and then I'll take you to be introduced to most of your team." He said addressing the last bit to Melody.

She gave a Cheshire grin nodding vigorously. 'Then can I talk?' she signed.

"As long as you avoid certain words that would cause a natural disaster, I see no reason why not."

If Melody could have squealed like the girl she was, she would have. She practically skipped below deck dragging a very amused Coulson behind her.

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The happiness and excitement Melody had moments before began to evaporate as they traveled down the long, narrow, and dark hallways. The looks of slight agitation, confusion, and occasionally fear the agents they passed kept throwing at her caused her to shrink closer to Phil. Phil, noticing her agitation, put an arm around her and gave solid glares to anyone that gave more than a passing glance in their direction. Three years of being her care taker –and now her handler- wasn't something he took or was going to take lightly.

When they entered the viewing deck, Melody felt like all the air got knocked out of her lungs. There were so many people. She was only mildly relieved to find most of them were too interested in computer screens to bother even throwing the newcomers a glance.

Phil gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze before quietly saying, "I've got to go check on something real quick, and Fury's got to finish getting the helicarrier under cover. I want you to stay by the door for me. I'll be right back I promise."

Melody gave a wide eyed nod gripping the edges of the formal jacket Phil had still neglected to ask for yet. With the way she white knuckled it as he walked away, Phil wasn't entirely sure he was ever getting it back.

Checking on the FaceTrace had been an expected disappointment. The program was working fine, and had been running since Coulson had left to pick up Melody; however, Barton was a first-class agent when it came to staying off the grid. Something told him this Loki character was too. So far the closest match had been 19% and protocol said it had to be at least 50 before anything else could be done.

Phil glanced up at Melody meeting her wide eyes, before giving her a reassuring smile. He could tell that this transition was going to be hard on her. Adults, let alone children, didn't go from three years of strict isolation to perfectly sociable in a matter of hours; it just didn't happen.

Across the room Melody had long sense realized this. In an effort to calm herself, Melody kept her eyes locked on Phil, and it was working- until someone opened the door next to her. From between the automatic doors came a really tall man with blonde hair, and a red head woman that reminded Melody a little too much of the woman that used to live across the road from her family three years ago. They both passed by her without sparing her a glance, but the third, a shorter dark haired, dark eyed man, seemed to want to avoid attention as much as she did. Her corner of the room seemed to be the perfect spot for it.

When the man glanced up from his feet long enough to realize Melody was occupying the corner that he was originally heading to, they both stared at each other in various degrees of shock before his face gave way to confusion, and then, upon further inspection mild anger. Melody's went from shock to fear.

"Director Fury." A deceptively calm tone came from the man as he demanded Nick's attention. Melody shivered wishing with all her might she could call Phil to get this man to stop _staring_ at her, to keep people from glancing at her with _that look,_ to _hide_ her.

Everyone seemed to momentarily freeze seeming to Melody almost as afraid of this man as she was. They just happened to have screens to pretend to be looking at.

The man's eyes had yet to leave her, and with his quiet demand for the Director's attention, the red haired lady, the blond haired man, Fury, and to Melody's relief, Phil were all staring at the pair.

Fury spoke first. "Yes, Dr. Banner?"

"Why is there a kid here?" disgust dripping in his tone before he turned to the red head, "You weren't kidding Agent Romanoff. They really do start that young, don't they? Do you have toddlers in training?"

"Siren is actually the only person under 18 on this entire helicarrier. Her circumstances are unique, and most people in this room don't have the proper clearance to know any more about her. When you know the situation, you should understand why she's here." That didn't seem to help matters as the man began to throw another sarcastic comment at the Director.

At this point Melody could feel the full blown panic attack setting in. She locked eyes with Phil and began to frantically sign. "Phil. Phil. Phil. PhilPhilPhilPhilPhilPhil."

Phil came to the quick conclusion that he needed to get Melody away from Dr. Banner before one or both of them lost it, get her to some room without other people, and calm down before she got electrocuted in front of the entire crew. Phil walked up the few stairs from the lower level to the top before stopping just a few feet from the franticly signing girl, and the men that either looked really confused (Captain America) or on the verge of being really angry (Banner and Fury).

"Dr. Banner." Phil said in his usual calm voice.

Bruce seemed to snap out of it a little before turning to Phil, "What?"

"Could you get a few steps away from the girl please? There are reasons behind Siren" – Melody flinched at the name—"being here, but she is not very used to people. Things have a tendency to go very wrong when she gets upset."

Banner looked confused, but hesitantly complied. Once Banner was far enough away, a cautious Phil approached the near hyperventilating Melody with what he hoped to be a calming smile. He should have known that this many people would have been too much for her. He honestly thought it would have been fine as long as she had a clear view of him and no one tried to approach her.

Melody watched with relief as Phil made the man back away from her, with a look that told her she was fine and everything was ok. She continued to sign his name until he was within a few feet of her, and only stopped to keep Phil's coat from flying off of her as she raced to hide behind and as close to Colson as humanly possible. Phil kept his eye on her a moment longer as she fisted the back of his shirt before the blonde haired man got his attention.

"What was she signing?" He asked with confused curiosity.

Before he could reply Fury answered. "She was signing Agent Colson's name. For the most part signing is how she communicates. You will have proper introductions later. At the moment I don't believe that's such a good idea. Coulson, come with me and bring her with you. I think there's something that has been left unattended for too long."

Phil nodded before carefully uncurling Melody's fists from his now wrinkled shirt and leading her out of the room and down halls to an office that seemed to be about half the size of the viewing deck.

"Have a seat Melody. Agent Coulson, make sure the door's locked. I don't want anyone wandering in. I have enough explaining to do as it is."

"Yes, sir." Phil answered as Melody tracked his every move.

"Melody." Fury said drawing her attention back to him, though he could tell half her attention was still on where Phil was. "I need you to tilt your head to the left. I need to be able to get to the control box. Be as still as you can. If I mess this up, we'll both be electrocuted."

Phil saw her pale a little at that before nodding. The process was quick, thankfully, and Melody was free of the collar in less than five minutes. The only thing that showed the collar had ever been there was a mess of burn scars and an imprint that would fade over the next hour. At least, Phil hoped it would fade.

Fury left after removing it, taking the collar with him. He sincerely hoped his boss was going to destroy that torture device. Melody just remained on the chair staring at Phil with a mix of awe, disbelief, and mild fear. Now that the collar was gone, she wasn't entirely sure what to do. She'd have to watch what she said, she knew that, but what should she say? What did her voice sound like now? After three years of maturing and disuse, it had to sound different than she remembered. What if she only had a limited amount of time to talk, and the Council would put her right back where she came from when this was all over. Well she would just have to use her words to the fullest and make sure what she said mattered then wouldn't she?


End file.
